In the wake of a bill on its way to Governor Gregoire implementing a two-year repeal of Initiative 960, Washington Policy Center (WPC) recently announced it will publish the public disclosure information that would have appeared in the voters’ pamphlet if Initiative 960 had remained in place.
The Senate passed the final version of the bill repealing Initiative 960, SB 6130, by a vote of 26-21. During floor debate, Sen. Jim Honeyford told the legislature about WPC’s I-960 Voters’ Guide and Sen. Adam Kline kindly requested 30,000 copies for his district. Sens. Mike Hewitt and Joe Zarelli delivered a letter to the governor requesting she veto the sections of SB 6130 that repeal the non-binding public advisory vote on tax increases and require how legislators voted on tax increase bills to be listed in the state voters’ pamphlet.
Passed by voters in 2007, Initiative 960 requires a two-thirds vote of the legislature to raise taxes. It also included several public information provisions. For each tax increase, the public was to receive:
- A description of each tax increase.
- A ten-year estimate of how much lawmakers increased the financial burden they place on taxpayers.
- A list showing how each lawmaker voted.
- Each legislator’s contact information.
Under Initiative 960, this information was to appear in the voters’ pamphlet for the November 2010 election.
Governor Gregoire says she will sign the repeal of the two-thirds requirement. She has not indicated whether she will use her line item veto to retain the public disclosure provisions.
The project will be conducted by researchers at Washington Policy Center’s independent website www.WashingtonVotes.org.
